In percutaneous medical procedures, an opening may be created in a wall of a blood vessel to allow for the insertion of various medical devices which can be navigated through the blood vessel to a site to be treated. For example, after initial access into the blood vessel is obtained, a medical device may be inserted through the tissue tract created between the skin, or epidermis, of the patient down through the subcutaneous tissue and into the opening formed in the blood vessel. The medical device may then be navigated through the blood vessel to the treatment site.
Once the procedure is completed, the medical device(s) or other equipment introduced into the blood vessel may be retracted from the body through the blood vessel, out the opening in the wall of the blood vessel, and out through the tissue tract. The physician or other medical technician is presented with the challenge of trying to close the opening in the blood vessel and/or the tissue tract formed in the epidermis and subcutaneous tissue. A number of different device structures, assemblies, and methods are known for closing the opening in the blood vessel and/or tissue tract, each having certain advantages and disadvantages. There is an ongoing need to provide alternative medical devices as well as alternative methods for manufacturing and/or using medical devices.